Presentation Description: An overview of the challenges, impacts, and outcomes involving the delivery of radiation therapy to infants with brain tumors was presented. The survival and functional outcomes were reviewed.
Speaker:
Thomas Merchant, DO, PhD
Chief of Radiation Oncology
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
Presentation Description: Cranial radiotherapy is associated with cognitive impairments tentatively linked to the hippocampus, a neurogenic region of the brain important in memory and learning. The presenter of this session found that the presumed chronic injury inflicted by irradiation to the young rodent brain could be largely reversed by voluntary physical exercise or by transplantation of stem cells, and are now exploring the underlying mechanisms. Dr. Blomgren speculated that the same concepts are valid also in a clinical setting and explored this in detail in the presentation.
Speaker:
Klas Blomgren, MD, PhD
Professor
Department of Pediatrics, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Physician
Department of Pediatric Oncology, The Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
Presentation Description: The ability of tumors to divide endlessly is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Telomere maintenance is the main mechanism by which tumor cells achieve this goal. This session examined how by using the unique model of pediatric low grade gliomas and neuroblastomas which tend to undergo spontaneous growth arrest, the role of telomere maintenance in these tumors can be defined, which can lead to the development of potential novel therapies to treat high grade pediatric gliomas and neuroblastomas.
Speaker:
Uri Tabori, MD
Neuro-Oncologist, Division of Hematology/Oncology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Scientist, Genetic and Genomic Biology
The Research Institute and the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
Presentation Description: Malignancy is generally considered a contra-indication to organ donation. As the demand for organs continues to grow well beyond available supply, there is ongoing debate around the use of ‘marginal’ donors to increase the donor pool. This session addressed the issues related to extending the organ donor pool to include patients with primary brain tumors.
Speaker:
Angela Punnett, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatric, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Staff Physician
Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
Education Program Director for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
Presentation Description: Surgery is an integral component and typically the first line of therapy for children with central nervous system tumors. Conventional aims of neurosurgery including tumor removal, management of hydrocephalus, and diagnostic sampling have been recently modified with innovations such as navigational guidance, functional mapping, endoscopic surgery, second-look surgery, and physiologic imaging. The overall role of the pediatric neurosurgeon is also expanding to include unconventional responsibilities including disease staging, tissue procurement, and drug delivery. The application of these philosophical and technological approaches was discussed in this presentation.
Speaker:
Mark M. Souweidane, MD
Professor of Neurological Surgery and Pediatrics
Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
Vice Chair, Neurological Surgery
Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian, New York, NY